WO2004039465A1

WO2004039465A1 - Three-dimensional puzzle device

Info

Publication number: WO2004039465A1
Application number: PCT/CA2003/001646
Authority: WO
Inventors: Claude Bouchard; Denis Verville; Gilles Bernard
Original assignee: Sagace 2000 Inc.
Priority date: 2002-10-30
Filing date: 2003-10-28
Publication date: 2004-05-13
Also published as: CA2410098A1; AU2003275863A1

Abstract

The puzzle device has a shaft member and a number of adjacent like wheels (4) rotatably mounted onto the shaft member (2). A number of tiles (16) are distributed over peripheral surfaces of the wheels and slideably mounted on them for lateral sliding from one of the wheels to an adjacent wheel provided that the adjacent wheel has a space adapted to slideably receive the tile and that the tile is properly aligned with the space. The tiles bear indicia determining desired final puzzle positions over the cylindrical puzzle surface defined by the peripheral surfaces of the wheels. Pin and slot arrangements interconnect the wheels for communicating rotation from one of the wheels to all immediately adjacent wheels whenever the concerned wheel is rotated past a specific rotation angle.

Description

THREE-DIMENSIONAL PUZZLE DEVICE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to puzzle games, and more particularly to a challenging three-dimensional puzzle device having a cylindrical game surface.

BACKGROUND

One important problem with most puzzle games is that, more than often, they do not offer enough challenge. One way to increase the difficulty level for solving these puzzle games is to have puzzles with more and more pieces.

Traditional puzzles are all designed to be solved under the same basic principles, which consist in- assembling a plurality of small little pieces bearing indicium to form a picture or printed motif when all the pieces are properly fitted together. The puzzle solution is generally in two dimensions and, as a result, is of moderate difficulty level and requires more patience than ingenuity. Shifting tile puzzles are alternatives to the traditional puzzles but still remain fairly easy to resolve. Consequently, various puzzle designs have been created for transposing the well-known shifting tile puzzles from flat boards to, for example, three-dimensional cylindrical puzzle surfaces.

Known in the art are US patents Nos . 4,949,969 (JOHNSON) and 5,116,053 (Blankenburg et al . ) which are good examples of cylindrical puzzle devices. The puzzle devices have slidable elements disposed in successive circular rolls. One of the rolls exhibits a vacant space to be used for moving the slidable elements and reordering them to form an image or a predetermined sequence. The slidable elements are assembled onto rotatable wheels mounted about a central shaft. Detent arrangements are provided between the shaft and the wheels to define rotation steps facilitating alignment of the wheels as required for moving a slide element from one wheel to an adjacent wheel. The wheels are independent from one another.

Also known in the art are US patents Nos . 5,074,561

(JOHNSON), 5,845,904 (HAWKINS), 5,429,364 (CHANG), 5,083,788

(CONOTTER) , UK patent application No. 2,107,997 (KIM), JP patent application No. 7-214982 (TSUYOSHI) , and PCT patent application No. WO 98/50122 (CABEZAS PARRA) , all showing different constructions and uses of cylindrical shifting tile puzzles. HAWKINS and CHANG show a central part of the puzzle forming a container such as a cup or a mug, while the tiles have complementary peripheral threads forming the tile sliding system. The device of CONOTTER has a polygonal shape and the rotating wheels have several rows of tiles compared to usually one in the other devices. KIM shows a puzzle which can be used for example as a calendar. The puzzle device of TSUYOSHI is usable as a pencil box or container. CABEZAS PARRA shows a puzzle device wherein the slidable elements are formed by blocks directly attached to the central shaft of the device .

Even though the difficulty level for solving puzzles has been increased by transposing shifting tile puzzles from flat boards to three-dimensional puzzle surfaces, the ingenuity level to solve them has remained almost the same as in the case of flat board puzzles.

SUMMARY An object of the invention is to provide a puzzle device providing a greater intellectual challenge over the known shifting tile puzzle devices. Another object of the present invention is to provide such a puzzle device having a high versatility for making different puzzles and other popular games.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such a puzzle device which may be easily suited for persons of all ages.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such a puzzle device which helps developing intellectual skills . Another object of the present invention is to provide such a puzzle device wherein the indicium born by the tiles or the tiles themselves can be changed to provide new challenges .

According to the present invention, there is provided a puzzle device comprising a shaft member and a number of adjacent like wheels rotatably mounted onto the shaft member and aligned ends to ends. The wheels have respective outer peripheral surfaces defining altogether a generally cylindrical puzzle surface around the shaft member. The puzzle device also comprises a number of tiles distributed over the peripheral surf-aces of the wheels and slidably mounted thereon for lateral sliding from one of the wheels to an adjacent one of the wheels provided that said adjacent one of the wheels has a space adapted to slidably receive one of the tiles and that said one of the tiles is properly aligned with said space. The tiles bear indicia determining desired final puzzle positions over the cylindrical puzzle surface. The puzzle device also comprises means interconnecting the wheels for communicating rotation from one of the wheels to all immediately adjacent ones of the wheels whenever said one of the wheels is rotated past a predetermined rotation angle. The means for communicating rotation may advantageously comprise pin and slot arrangements between the wheels, possibly formed of slots extending in one side of the wheels and corresponding pins projecting from another side of the wheels and respectively engaging the slots. The slots define courses along which the pins are slidable and beyond which the pins drive the wheels in rotation. The courses of the slot may have incurved shapes between points in the wheels delimiting the rotation angle of the wheels prior to communicating rotation to the adjacent ones of the wheels.

As a result, the person attempting to solve the puzzle must cope with the effects caused by the interdependence of the wheels when planning to move a tile to a particular position as the positions of many tiles may be affected during the operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A detailed description of preferred embodiments will be given herein below in reference with the following drawings, in which like numbers refer to like elements:

Figures 1 and 2 are schematic exploded perspective views of a puzzle device according to the present invention, from different angles respectively.

Figure 3 is a schematic side view of a puzzle device according to the present invention.

Figure 4 is a schematic end view of a shaft according to the present invention.

Figures 5 and 6 are respectively schematic inner and outer views of an"' end cap according to the present invention. Figures 7 and 8 are respectively cross-section views of the end cap taken along lines VII-VII and VIII-VIII in Figure 6. Figures 9 and 10 are schematic side views of a wheel according to the present invention, without and with tiles respectively.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the puzzle device according to the present invention has a central shaft member 2 onto which a number of adjacent like wheels 4 are rotatably mounted so as to rotate about a rotation axis 6. Preferably, the shaft member 2 has a cylindrical shape and the wheels 4 have cylindrical bores 8 through which the shaft member 2 extends. The wheels 4 have respective outer peripheral surfaces 10 defining altogether a generally cylindrical puzzle surface 12 around the shaft member 2. The wheels 4 are aligned ends to ends and extend between end caps 14 mounted respectively at opposite ends 15 of the shaft member 2. Tiles 16 bearing indicia determining desired final puzzle positions over the cylindrical puzzle surface 12 are distributed over the peripheral surfaces 10 of the wheels 4. The tiles 16 are slidably mounted on the wheels 4 for lateral sliding from one wheel 4 to an adjacent wheel 4. A space 18 is provided on at least one of the wheels 4. The space 18 is adapted (e.g. shape, size) to slidably receive one of the tiles 16 from an adjacent wheel 4 provided that it is properly aligned with the space 18, thus allowing a user to move the tiles 16 over the cylindrical puzzle surface 12 by rotating the wheels 4 and laterally sliding the tiles 16 over the wheels 4.

Pin and slot arrangements 20, 22 between the wheels 4 interconnect the wheels 4 for communicating rotation from one of the wheels 4 to all immediately adjacent wheels 4 whenever the concerned wheel 4 is rotated past a predetermined angle. The wheels 4 are thus interdependent and cannot be rotated regardless of the other wheels 4.

The generally cylindrical puzzle surface 12 is not necessarily circular. It can be, for example, polygonal or defining any other closed shape around the shaft member 2. Also, the shape of the shaft member 2 may be, for example, polygonal, square, rectangular, etc., as long as it allows rotation of the wheels 4.

In the illustrated case, the puzzle device has nine (9) wheels 4 all provided with nine (9) tiles 16 distributed over their peripheral surfaces 10, except for one of the wheels 4 which has only eight (8) tiles 16. The space left by the missing tile provides the space 18 for slidably receiving one tile 16. The pin and slot arrangements are designed to allow a rotation of 40° of a wheel 4 before communicating its rotation to the adjacent wheels 4. Other numbers of wheels 4 and tiles 16 and other degrees of freedom before which rotation of one wheel 4 is communicated to the adjacent wheels 4 can be used to lower or increase the difficulty level for solving the puzzle. For example, any combination of two wheels 4 or more, along with a number of tiles 16 distributed over their peripheral surfaces 10 may be used. For a_, young child, a puzzle device with three wheels 4 and a reduced number of tiles 16 may be enough. The length of the shaft member 2 should be adapted to the number of wheels 4 and depending on whether end caps 14 are used or not . Optionally, the shaft member 2 could have a telescopic arrangement for adapting to different numbers of wheels 4.

Referring to Figure 3, there is shown the resulting position of the tiles 16 caused by a complete rotation of the lowermost wheel I over 320°. Due to the pin and slot arrangements between the wheels 4, the rotation of the wheel I past 40° is communicated to the adjacent wheel H which is thereby driven into rotation. At its turn, the rotation of the wheel H past 40° is communicated to the next wheel G and so on. In the illustrated case, only the wheel A will remain unchanged as the rotation of the adjacent wheel B has not exceeded 40°.

Preferably, the ends caps 14 cover sides of the wheels 4 at the ends 15 of the shaft member 2 (see Figures 1 and 2) and are- detachably coupled to the shaft member 2 through complementary snapfitting elements respectively located on both the shaft member 2 and the end caps 14.

Referring to Figures 4 to 8, the snapfitting elements can consist of pins 24 radially projecting from the shaft member 2 snapping into slots 28 extending in inner sides of the end caps 14 facing the wheels 4 when the ends 15 of the shaft member 2 are inserted into central bores 26 made in the end caps 14. The snapping slots 28 cross the central bores 26. The slots 28 have a cylindrical shape having a diameter similar to the diameter of the pins 24 for close fitting of the pins 24 within the slots 28. The passage 29 to the snapping slots 28 is smaller than the diameter of the pins 24 to prevent the pins 24 from being easily removed from the slots 28. The pins 24 must be pressed and pulled past the passage 29 to mount and detach respectively the end caps 14 from the shaft member 2.

The pins 24 can be integral with the shaft member 2 or formed by a pin member inserted in a transverse hole 25 made in the shaft member 2 as in the illustrated case .

In the case where the wheels 4 adjacent to the end caps 14 have a pin 20, the end caps 14 are provided with a circular slot 33 so that the pin 20 does not prevent them from rotating. Other arrangements for detachably coupling the shaft member 2 to the end caps 14 (or vice-versa) can be used, such as tightening screws (not shown) bolting the end caps 14 to the ends 15 of the shaft member 2 then having threaded holes . The shaft member 2 could also have threaded ends for bolting nuts (not shown) pressing on outer sides of the end caps 14.

Referring to Figures 9 and 10, the tiles 16 preferably have incurved surfaces 30 matching with the peripheral surfaces 10 of the wheels 4. In the case where the peripheral surfaces 10 are polygonal, then the surfaces 30 could be flat.

Referring back to Figures 1 and 2, the tiles 16 preferably have generally rectangular shapes and have all a generally identical size. The tile 16 could also have outcurved surfaces or irregular surfaces. Although many suitable solutions exist for the tiles 16 to bear indicia 60, the indicia can be simply in the form of stickers glued to surfaces 31 or small plates (not shown) affixed to the tiles 16 for easy change of the indicia. The indicia can also be imprinted on the tiles 16.

Referring also to Figures 9 and 10, the tiles 16 may be slidably mounted on the peripheral surfaces 10 of the wheels 4 through complementary interlocking elements formed by guiding channels 32 extending on the peripheral surfaces 10 of the wheels 4 and sliding members 34 respectively projecting beneath the tiles 16 and interlocking with the guiding channels 32, so as to define lateral sliding courses extending transversally to the wheels 4 and along which the tiles 16 are movable. The sliding members 34 may conveniently have Y-shaped cross-sections while the guiding channels 32 may have T-shaped cross-sections compatible with the Y-shaped cross-sections of the sliding members 34. Any other shapes, such as T-shaped for both the sliding members 34 and guiding channels 32, are also possible for interlocking the tiles 16 with the wheels 4. Other sliding arrangements can also be used. For example, the tiles 16 could slide between opposite tracks (not shown) mounted directly on the surfaces 10 of the wheels 4.

The pin and slot arrangements 20, 22 between the wheels 4 may conveniently comprise slots 22 extending in one side of the wheels 4, and corresponding pins 20 projecting from another side of the wheels 4 and respectively engaging the slots 22. The slots 22 define courses along which the pins 20 are slidable and beyond which the pins 20 drive the wheels 4 in rotation. The courses of the slots 22 have incurved shapes between points 38 in the wheels 4 delimiting the rotation angle of the wheels 4 prior to communicating rotation to the adjacent ones of the wheels 4. The rotation angle preferably corresponds to a tile shift on the peripheral surface 10 of one of the wheels 4 (with a possible degree of tolerance) .

Other suitable arrangements for communicating rotation from one of the wheels 4 to immediately adjacent wheels 4 can be used if desired.

Preferably, the puzzle device includes an additional tile 16 for filling the space 18 left on one of the wheels 4 when all the tiles 16 are in the desired final puzzle positions. Such an additional tile 16 would bear an indicium cooperating with the indicia of the other tiles 16. The additional tile 16 has an interlocking element for slidable engagement into the space 18 left on one of the wheels 4.

The shaft member 2, the wheels 4, the tiles 16 and the arrangement for interconnecting the wheels 4 can conveniently be made of plastic. Detent elements (not shown) may be arranged between the shaft member 2 and the wheels 4 to define rotation steps facilitating alignment of the wheels 4 for moving a tile 16 from one wheel 4 to an adjacent wheel 4. The end caps 14 could be permanently fixed to the shaft member 2, e.g. glued to the ends 15 of the shaft member 2. In that case, it would not be possible to add or remove any of the wheels 4. Alternatively, it is also possible to have only one end cap 14 detachably mounted at one end 15 of the shaft member 2, while the other end cap 14 is permanently fixed to the other end 15.

In the case where at least one of the end caps 14 is detachably mounted to the shaft member 2, it is possible to add or remove wheels 4 in order to increase or decrease the difficulty level of the puzzle. Accordingly, a user can also remove the tiles 16 from the wheels 4 for changing the indicia on their surfaces 31 or changing the tiles 16 themselves. By changing the indicia, the user can create a new picture or motif to be solved with the puzzle device, thus never running out of new challenges. Once the desired combination of tiles 16 and wheels 4 is mounted- on the shaft member 2, the user has to snapfit the end cap 14 to the end 15 of the shaft member 2 in order to use the puzzle device. The puzzle device could come with shafts members 2 of different lengths for accommodating a variable number of wheels 4.

To solve the puzzle, the user can shift a tile 16 laterally to the space 18 of an adjacent wheel 4. In addition, it is also possible to rotate a wheel 4 for "upwardly" or "downwardly" shifting a tile 16. The mechanical conception of the puzzle device, through the elements interconnecting the wheels 4, does not allow a user to rotate a wheel 4 past a predetermined rotation angle, which is a forty (40) degrees angle in the illustrated case, without communicating the rotation to the immediately adjacent wheels 4. If these adjacent wheels 4 rotate past the rotation angle, they too will communicate the rotation to their immediately adjacent wheels 4, thus considerably increasing the difficulty level for solving the puzzle. The rotation angle can be set by variations of the slots 22 and is advantageously a multiple of forty (40) degrees in order that once the rotation is completed, the tiles are all correctly aligned.

While embodiments of this invention have been illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described above, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the essence of this invention.

Claims

CLAIMS :

1. A puzzle device comprising: a shaft member; a number of adjacent like wheels rotatably mounted onto the shaft member and aligned ends to ends, the wheels having respective outer peripheral surfaces defining altogether a generally cylindrical puzzle surface around the shaft member; a number of tiles distributed over the peripheral surfaces of the wheels and slidably mounted thereon for lateral sliding from one of the wheels to an adjacent one of the wheels provided that said adjacent one of the wheels has a space adapted to slidably receive one of the tiles and that said one of the tiles is properly aligned with said space, the tiles bearing indicia determining desired final puzzle positions over the cylindrical puzzle surface; and means interconnecting the wheels for communicating rotation from one of the wheels to all immediately adjacent ones of the wheels whenever said one of the wheels is rotated past a predetermined rotation angle.

2. The puzzle device according to claim 1, wherein the means for interconnecting comprise respective pin and slot arrangements between the wheels .

3. The puzzle device according to claim 2, wherein the pin and slot arrangements comprise slots extending in one side of the wheels, and corresponding pins projecting from another side of the wheels and respectively engaging the slots, the slots defining courses along which the pins are slideable and beyond which the pins drive the wheels in rotation.

4. The puzzle device according to claim 3, wherein the courses of the slots have incurved shapes between points in the wheels delimiting the rotation angle of the wheels prior to communicating rotation to the adjacent ones of the wheels.

5. The puzzle device according to claim A , wherein the rotation angle substantially corresponds to a tile shift on the peripheral surface of one of the wheels.

6. The puzzle device according to claim 1, further comprising end caps mounted respectively at opposite ends of the shaft member, the wheels extending between the end caps.

7. The puzzle device according to claim 1, wherein the tiles and the wheels are provided with complementary interlocking elements defining lateral sliding courses extending transversally to the wheels and along which the tiles are movable.

8. The puzzle device according to claim 7, wherein the interlocking elements comprise guiding channels extending on the peripheral surfaces of the wheels and sliding members respectively projecting beneath the tiles and interlocking with the guiding channels .

9. The puzzle device according to claim 8, wherein the sliding members have Y-shaped cross-sections and the guiding channels have T-shaped cross-sections compatible with the Y- shaped cross-sections of the sliding members.

10. The puzzle device according to claim 6, wherein at least one of the end caps and the shaft member comprise complementary snapfitting elements for detachable assembly of said at least one of the end caps with the shaft member.

11. The puzzle device according to claim 10, wherein the snapfitting elements comprise pins radially projecting from the shaft member at an end thereof, a central bore made in said at least one end caps in which the end of the shaft is insertable, and a snapping slot extending in a side of said at least one of the end caps facing the wheels and crossing the central bore for snapping engagement with the pins when the end of the shaft is inserted in the bore of said at least one of the end caps .

12. The puzzle device according to claim 1, wherein the tiles have incurved surfaces matching with the peripheral surfaces of the wheels.

13. The puzzle device according to claim 12, wherein the tiles have generally rectangular shapes and have all a substantially identical size.

14. The puzzle device according to claim 1, wherein the shaft member has a cylindrical shape and the wheels have cylindrical bores through which the shaft extends .

15. The puzzle device according to claim 1, further comprising an additional tile for filling the space left on one of the wheels when all the tiles are in the final puzzle positions, the additional tile bearing an indicium cooperating with the indicia of the other tiles.

16. The puzzle device according to claim 15, wherein the additional tile has an interlocking element for slideable engagement into the space left on said one of the wheels.

17. The puzzle device according to claim 6, wherein the end caps cover sides of the wheels at ends of the shaft and have polygonal peripheral surfaces.

18. The puzzle device according to claim 1, wherein the shaft member, the wheels, the tiles and the means interconnecting the wheels for communicating rotation are made of plastic.